Olivia Rodrigo kicked off her GUTS World Tour on February 23, 2024, and I had the privilege of attending on March 2, 2024. She played her last tour, SOUR Tour, in theatres with capacities of around 4000-8000, with the largest being 11,000. This time around, Rodrigo opted for arenas within the 11,000-20,000 capacity range. While this made the concert feel less intimate, it made for a much bigger production, performance, and overall amazing show.
My night started at about 2:30 p.m., blasting Rodrigo’s entire discography while I got ready. When I was finally ready at 5:30, my mom and I headed to the Smoothie King Center. I attended the concert alone, which was extremely nerve-wracking but ended up being so fun. Once I was dropped off, I found my seat, which was located in the lower bowl, and prepared for the opener, Chappell Roan.
I knew a few lyrics from two of her songs but had not really listened to her before the concert. However, one of my favorite parts of concerts is hearing the opener, whether I know every lyric of their setlist or not a single one, I am always dancing and enjoying it. I love to discover new music through openers, so of course I spent her whole set dancing and screaming the few lyrics I knew. She was so amazing and definitely got the crowd excited for Rodrigo to come out.
Roan even taught us a dance during “HOT TO GO!,” which was extremely fun and engaging. After Chappell Roan’s set ended, I of course had to get a few merch items. The lines were so long, which resulted in me sprinting back to my seat in order to make it in time for Rodrigo’s set and consequently losing the t-shirt I bought along the way.
When Rodrigo’s intro finally started playing, the crowd erupted in cheers. She opened with one of her singles from GUTS, “bad idea, right?,” which I think was the perfect way to start the show. Throughout the night she played all 12 songs from GUTS, 9 of the 11 songs on SOUR (her debut album), and one unreleased song titled “obsessed.” She also wore a total of 5 different outfits and had a group of dancers which made for an amazing performance. Rodrigo did an impeccable job at making the show feel intimate even though there were 17,000 people there. There was even a segment where she sang a fan happy birthday, asked the crowd questions, and did a kiss cam. Rodrigo kept the audience engaged throughout the entire show, whether it was waving to fans, going down to lower bowl to hug fans during “jealousy, jealousy,” or spending time at the end of the show to walk across the entire pit barricade to receive gifts, letters, and hugs from everyone. Her stage was shaped like a butterfly (butterflies being one of her signature symbols), which made for such an interesting layout to look at instead of the normal rectangular stage that most artists opt for.
She also had an impressive mix of performance types throughout all of the songs. Some songs were performed with full choreography and all of her dancers, some were performed with just her singing and dancing around the stage, some were performed sitting on the edge of the stage singing with one of her band members, and some were performed sitting at a piano.
One of my favorite parts was when Rodrigo sat on a giant moon structure and flew across the lower bowl singing “logical” and “enough for you.” This was a great way for people in seats to have an opportunity to see her up close and was a beautiful section of the show. Another one of my favorite parts was during the last song, “get him back!,” when star confetti flew across the entire arena. I even went to the bottom of lower bowl at the end of the show to collect confetti, which now sits in a bag in my room to always remember the night. Some of my favorite songs to hear live were “obsessed,” “teenage dream,” “enough for you,” “ballad of a homeschooled girl,” “love is embarrassing,” and “favorite crime,” however, it is difficult to pick a favorite because I love all of her songs so much and knew every lyric to all of them.
“Obsessed” is exclusive to certain vinyl variants and is not on streaming yet, but it has been one of my favorite songs of hers since I heard it on my vinyl. “Teenage dream” is a very sentimental song, and she played videos of her as a child on the jumbotron, which of course made me cry. She played “enough for you” right in front of me on the moon, and it is one of my favorite songs on SOUR. “Ballad of a homeschooled girl” and “love is embarrassing” were both so fun to sing and dance to. Lastly, “favorite crime” is my favorite song on SOUR. Rodrigo raved about us being the loudest crowd at least 4 times throughout the night, which I can definitely attest to as my ears were ringing by the end of the show.
This was my first time going to a concert alone, and while it can be so scary and anxiety-inducing to go to something like this alone (as it was for me), the memories and experiences are so worth it. I encourage everyone to do things alone, even if you are scared. I have met some of my best friends through waiting in concert lines or sleeping on the side of the road at 5 a.m. for a show. Concerts are my true happy place, and while it is intimidating to go alone, the memories and feelings I get from concerts will always be worth it to me. The concerts I have gone to are something that I will cherish and remember forever. So, if you have the opportunity to go to a concert, do it. Even if you have to go alone. Once the artist comes out and the music surrounds the venue, you will not even notice that you are there alone. I already have multiple shows planned for the rest of 2024 and am going to some of them alone, but after this night I feel no anxiety about it and could not be more excited.
More photos from the show! All photos by Claire StPaul.
